17.7.12

Last Saturday, I drove almost 300km west to take part in the "Great Prize of the Göllheim Community", a 28km time-trial in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. While the gusting winds were, most likely, equally strong for all starters, I know my lack of confidence in my handling skills put me automatically in a disadvantageous position. I finished my run feeling it had been disastrous: my computer indicated almost 10% lower power than my ride in the Brazilian championships three weeks ago; I was unable to keep my aero tuck for significant stretches, as I fought to keep the bike upright against the strong side winds; and, finally, I was handed a time penalty for taking the wrong line in a turn, missing one cone and thus shortening my ride by a few meters. I went for a lacklustre cool-down and then left to shower ahead of the long drive back, convinced that I'd easily miss the top 10 and thus finish outside the money for the event.

But, coming out of the locker room, I was fairly surprised - so much, in fact, that I even missed the awards ceremony - to find myself ranked 3rd, just over a minute and twenty seconds behind former southwest German champion Kai Hliza (Möbel Ehrmann), and still ahead of many other names I had weighted as candidates for a podium placing, such as Rheinland's reigining state champion, Alexandre Boos (Bianchi-meinradshop.de).

Somewhat embarrassingly (?), the U23 lads which started after the Elites posted the fastest times of the day; if we were put together in the same classification, I would have finished exactly two minutes behind the Team Bergstrasse trio of Christopher Hatz, Harry Kraft and Hans Benning, the latter two, respectively, 2nd and 6th placed in the German U23 championships. The U23 vice-champion, furthermore, is (or was, at least) leading the Bundesliga, the prestigious national series. Definitively no slouch.

(At those speeds, the missing 10% power - which again suggests my run in Brazil was indeed not too shabby - would have yielded me speeds around 3 or 4% faster, translating into almost 90s time savings - enough to take home the Elite title, and probably only a handful of seconds behind the speedy U23s.)